Shakhrisabz, formerly known as Kesh, was the hometown of Timur, a Mongolian chief and the conqueror of Central Asia, born in 1336 in a nearby village. Timur was also originally buried in Shakhrisabz, before his remains were moved to his capital, Samarkand. At the turn of the 15^th century, he erected an enormous palace in Shakhrisabz, called Ak-Saray (“the White Palace”), of which only two pylons – part of the front gate – have been preserved. At present they are 38-metres high, although in Timur’s day they were twice as high. Looking at the ruins, we can only try to imagine how monumental the palace was. What has been preserved in much better shape to our times though is the sacral architecture.

These days Shakhrisabz is a quiet town, located 85 kilometres to the south of Samarkand. It can be easily visited during a one-day trip from Samarkand. The only available means of transport is a taxi – private or shared one. Taxis leave for Shakhrisabz from a square located around 200 metres to the east of Registan. You can also ask about a taxi in your hotel, and if you want to share a taxi, start looking for company there. The price for one person may range from USD 30 to 35, for two people it will be slightly higher. The journey takes about two hours (the road is in bad condition, in some places frighteningly so). More about the journey to Shakhrisabz in the post: Uzbeks, Tajiks: Brief Encounters.

 

Behind the ruins of Ak-Saray starts Ipak Yuli, a pedestrian precinct running to the south. Right behind the pylons, in the axis of the palace, there proudly rises a monument of Timur. At the other end of the precinct, on the right, to the west, there is the beautifully decorated Kok Gumbaz (Blue Dome) Mosque, erected by Ulugh Beg in 1434. The dome of the mosque, like the domes of the neighbouring Dorut Tilavat complex, collapsed in the 19^th century, but it was rebuilt in the middle of the last century. The Dorut Tilavat complex rises opposite the Kok Gumbaz Mosque and consists of the Shamseddin Kulal Mausoleum from 1374 (on the left) and the Mausoleum of Gumbazi-Seidan, erected in 1434 by Ulugh Beg (on the right) like the mosque. Nearby, on the opposite (eastern) side of the pedestrian precinct there is the Dorus-Siadat complex dating to the 14^th century with the Hazrati Imam Mosque. Timur was originally buried in a vault of this complex, before Ulugh Beg removed his grandfather’s body to the Gūr-i Amīr Mausoleum in Samarkand.

 

On the map of Uzbekistan, Shakhrisabz is not such an important tourist destination as Samarkand, Bukhara or Khiva. However, if you can spend more than a week in Uzbekistan, it is certainly worth visiting. A warning: along Ipak Yuli, where all main sights are located, there are no trees to give shelter from the sun, so it may be better to visit the town either in the morning or late in the afternoon. Even in late September, it can get unbearably hot there at midday.